


[Fandom stats] Sherlock minus Johnlock

by toastystats (destinationtoast)



Series: Fandom Stats [13]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Meta, Nonfiction, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-09
Updated: 2013-10-09
Packaged: 2019-09-19 23:54:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17011545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destinationtoast/pseuds/toastystats
Summary: I looked at the differences in the Sherlock fanworks on AO3 in general vs. when you exclude things tagged John/Sherlock.  I also explained how to exclude common ships and find rare pairs (which has become easier on AO3 since I first posted this to Tumblr in Oct 2013).





	[Fandom stats] Sherlock minus Johnlock

**Author's Note:**

> Originally [posted on Tumblr](http://destinationtoast.tumblr.com/post/63561929275/sherlock-minus-johnlock-i-looked-at-the).

[](https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNfIAP2nBhjNxva3s1oYWyv_nDghuCmNa8INN4wE96IKzjWYKtksd627_5d-6cisA/photo/AF1QipMbqZrtAFBJHP1bsodc8Q16CII3rON32u2-96s2?key=UzBPVlZCQ3p1S1VnWHVkM2tDR3lQNGs2VmRBM3BR)

[](https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNfIAP2nBhjNxva3s1oYWyv_nDghuCmNa8INN4wE96IKzjWYKtksd627_5d-6cisA/photo/AF1QipMOrg7CDion_PZVB5U4W3WaxUg2Fm4VN0ZEucFj?key=UzBPVlZCQ3p1S1VnWHVkM2tDR3lQNGs2VmRBM3BR)

**SHERLOCK MINUS JOHNLOCK**

I looked at the differences in the Sherlock fanworks on AO3 in general vs. when you exclude things tagged John/Sherlock.  (You can do this by adding "-filter_ids:11006" to any AO3 search, or sticking that in the "Search within results" field.  See [ao3org's explanation of this technique](http://ao3org.tumblr.com/post/61896747238/the-search-within-results-field-and-you-pt-2).)

 **[Edit to add:[I wrote a guide to finding rarepairs](http://destinationtoast.tumblr.com/post/63583070389/how-to-ao3-searches-ship-tags-on-ao3-and-rare-pairs).**]

Please click Read More for further details/FAQ and for the most recently updated version of this post.

****Methods** **

Relationship categories:  I searched AO3 for [Sherlock (TV)](http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Sherlock%20\(TV\)/works) and [Sherlock (TV) excluding Johnlock](http://archiveofourown.org/works?utf8=%E2%9C%93&commit=Sort+and+Filter&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=revised_at&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=-filter_ids%3A11006&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=0&tag_id=Sherlock+%28TV%29), then looked at the "Categories" breakdown in the "Sort and Filter" sidebar.

Relationships: I searched AO3 for the canonical versions of each relationship tag ([details here](http://destinationtoast.tumblr.com/post/61453890217/its-time-for-more-sherlock-shipping-stats-last)) for each ship shown in Fig 4 (click on that figure to expand the full list) and recorded the number of works.  I repeated each search excluding Johnlock and again recorded the number of works.  Example:

  * [Mormor, including Johnlock fanworks](http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Sebastian%20Moran*s*James%20Moriarty/works)
  * [Mormor without Johnlock](http://archiveofourown.org/works?utf8=%E2%9C%93&commit=Sort+and+Filter&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=revised_at&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=-filter_ids%3A11006&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=0&tag_id=Sebastian+Moran*s*James+Moriarty)



**[Edit to add:** this is not comprehensive, I know!  Feel free to suggest other pairs for future analyses; sorry if your ship got left out here.]

**Results**

Just a few highlights, as I'm doing this faster than usual:

  * 48.3% of the Sherlock (TV) fanworks on AO3 remained after I excluded John/Sherlock.
  * Most Sherlock M/M fic is due to Johnlock.  When you exclude Johnlock, Gen becomes the most popular Sherlock category.
  * Mystrade and Mary Morstan/John Watson appear to very often be secondary or additional pairings in John/Sherlock fics -- as do some less popular pairings.  
  * Mormor and Mystrade are the most popular non-Johnlock pairings, with or without including Johnlock -- but they switch rankings when you exclude Johnlock.



**Author's Note:**

> Comments welcome, but I’m in the middle of a massive fandom stats backup due to Tumblr purge, so I may be slow to respond.


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